INEOS ready for first appointment in ‘crucial’ Italian spring: “Bernal is our leader”

Basso is pleased with how the team has started its season. “From the beginning, the team has been strong, both technically and physically, and there’s also a great atmosphere within the squad,” he said. INEOS have already taken five professional wins this year, as well as two national titles. “Now we have to try to perform well in this crucial month too, with important events coming up,” the Italian added.

That ‘crucial month’ for INEOS is largely centred on Italy, with the British team not having a clear, out-and-out leader for most of the cobbled Classics. The first big target arrives immediately at Strade Bianche. “Egan Bernal is our leader,” Basso explained. “He was on the podium back in 2021, and last year he also played an important role in the gravel stage of the Giro d’Italia. We’re counting on his talent.”

After Strade Bianche, the Colombian climber will stay in Italy and head to Tirreno-Adriatico together with Thymen Arensman. According to Basso, the two Giro leaders from 2025 will share leadership there, with a focus on the general classification. Ganna will also start the ‘Race of the Two Seas’, but his priorities will be different: stage wins first, and then building towards a bigger Italian goal — Milan–San Remo.

“Twenty years ago, Tirreno was always ridden as preparation for something else,” Basso said of Ganna’s build-up. “But now we also want results there ourselves. Of course, Tirreno will still give him an extra boost for Milan–San Remo.” And after the Italian Monument, INEOS won’t be done in Italy either, with the Giro d’Italia looming on the horizon.

However, Basso doesn’t want to look too far ahead when it comes to selections. “Modern cycling is very complex. We have a plan, but we stay flexible,” he explained. Still, he did underline the team’s broader ambitions. “If everything goes according to plan, our team should then try to play an important role in the Giro’s general classification.”

That GC focus won’t be the only target — at least not in the old Team Sky sense of putting everything into one overall win. “We need to find the right balance between ambitions for stage wins and the general classification, which is what we’re naturally built around,” said Basso. The Italian also refused to be drawn on whether Bernal or Arensman would be the outright leader for the Giro. “It’s too early to make that statement. We first need to see Tirreno, and then we’ll focus on the Giro,” he said.

For now, two names are on the provisional Giro start list: Arensman and Ganna. But if we go by Basso’s comments, that can still change. So for the Dutchman, it’s a case of waiting — starting this Saturday at Strade Bianche.